Moroccan Beni Ouarain Rugs

I’ve been dying to know what these rugs were ever since I saw them at The Parker in Palm Springs. When I saw them pop up at Desire to Inspire via images of April Tidey’s amazing interiors I just had to ask. Thanks to midcenturyjo I now know.

Moroccan Beni Ouarain Rugs

I’m blogging it here so I don’t forget.

***A quick google informed me that they are VERY expensive…so never mind. You will never see them at The Brick House. Boo Hoo.

8 Comments

moroccanmaryam on
04/28/2009:

They are very expensive in the US but I sell a new one for $850 and vintage ones for $1200-$1450 (about 1/3 of what they sell for in the US). I know that this is a chunk of change but these are beautiful carpets and very substantial.

maya on
04/28/2009:

oh man!you had to go and find them, ha? now i want one so bad.. they are perfect.do you think the Parker really needs them? lets get them.. one for me and one for you!what am i going to do without you on the east cost?

Juli on
04/29/2009:

We’re looking for one for the cottage – they also can go by the name Berber and we’re busy as bees sourcing more affordable ones (we went to one hoity toity store in Toronto and they go for $3000-4000 CDN – grrr). I may just check out moroccanmaryam’s shop….

THE BRICK HOUSE on
04/29/2009:

Juli

I hope you find an affordable one – and if you do please share. I would love to have one of these, but I really don’t know where to look.

fafa on
05/07/2009:

Hi There,

The ones at the Parker Meridien in Palm Springs comes from our store Mosaik, we worked with famous designer Jonathan Adler to find the right rugs for each room of the hotel.This rugs from our stores vary from $ 1,900 US to $ 7,000 of course you can buy them cheaper anywhere else, from Pottery barn to Ikea for some copies made in China, or from Morocco for some new ones or copies, the real Beni Ouarain are from the 1940’s to 1960′ the wool is the natural color of the sheep, white or browns, and the price vary beacuse of the quality of the wooll and the quality of the rug, so you cannot really buy a rug like this online, you need to touch it, walk on it and feel it to see the real beauty of this rugs. So my advice don’t buy it without seeing it and touching it.Fatiha Daoudi visit our website or come over to see this rugs and you will understand why everybody want them http://www.e-mosaik.com

Anonymous on
06/04/2009:

Hi

As the dealer who supplied April Tidey withthe Beni Ouarain rugs (see above: Desire to Inspire), I would liketo say that I am in complete agreement with the comments of Fatiha Daoudi.Real Beni Ouarain's are not something that can be understood in terms ofpattern only. (The web has a way of reducing what is in fact a complex,historically and culturally significant form to a merely decorative detail.)Like any quality, hand-woven product, they command significant prices relative tocontemporary machine made products. And so they should. Carpets ofmid-century vintage are increasingly rare — and it is important toknow that these were never the product of a factory system (like, for instance,the carpets of the Persian tradition.) They were made in a domestic context bythe individuals who used them (the Beni Ouarain are a nomadic Berber tribe of theMiddle Atlas region of Morocco) and are truly one of the most distinctive culturalforms to arise out of North Africa. I would encourage anyone that is interestedin them to check out the website of Gebhart Blazek (http://www.berber-arts.com) –an important figure in the world of tribal art — and someone who has done much(including significant research) to help win for the tribal traditions of Moroccoa significant place in the world of collectible textiles.

It might also interest some of you to know that Beni Ouarains have a place inthe history of the modern interior from the very beginning of the modern story.Le Corbusier used them, as did Frank Lloyd Wright, Alvar Aalto, and Charles and Rae Eames…i.e. the apostles of the machine age intuitively understood that there was something aboutthe tribal traditions (which include the Beni Ouarain) that counterpointed the modern.And from our very much later perspective, in a world of increasinglyalienating technology, of distribution systems that litter the world withthoughtless product that nobody cares about — these carpets cannot but remindus of a very different material cultural condition.

I think they should be a lot more expensive than they are.

Russell BakerBOMBAST InteriorsVancouver, Canada

Anonymous on
06/11/2009:

Bombast is a perfect title. We love them too and we DON"T wish they were even more expensive.

maroctribal on
08/15/2009:

Take your time to find a wonderful, authentic vintage Beni Ouarain, a carpet that was originally created by the weaver as a one of a kind, and it will be the start of a love affair!